When Dwyane Wade was told he was going to take the shot for the win against the Charlotte Bobcats, he nearly deferred to LeBron James but then thought better of it.
"When (coach Erik Spoelstra) called it, I was shocked because this guy had it going on," said Wade, pointing to James.
"I wasn't in the flow. I was about to say, 'Let LeBron run it.' Then I said, 'You know what, I'll do it.' "
With James over in the corner, Wade brought the ball up the court, drove to the left side and banked a 10-foot shot over Gerald Henderson with 2.9 seconds left Wednesday night to lift the Heat to a 96-95 victory.
The Bobcats had a chance to steal one at the buzzer, but D.J. Augustin's 3-point attempt off a side inbound play didn't fall, and D.J. White's follow at the buzzer rolled off the rim.
Wade, who missed almost the entire third quarter with a bruised foot, had only 10 points and hit 5 of 13 shots.
James led all scorers with 35 points, Chris Bosh added 25, and they combined for 35 second-half points to help the Heat overcome a 60-45 halftime deficit.
Henderson led the Bobcats with 21 points, including a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left for a 95-94 lead. Augustin finished with 20 points, and center Boris Diaw added 16 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists.
The Heat needed to dig deep after a sluggish first half in front of a crowd of 19,614, the largest for a Bobcats game at Time Warner Cable Arena. They had help from the Bobcats, who had 12 turnovers on 25 third-quarter possessions.
"In the third quarter, we turned it over too many times," coach Paul Silas of the Bobcats said. "It got them back in the game. Once they got back in the game, we played tough. They're just too good."
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